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Harakiri contains a "highly realistic" fight scene, according to an expert. Directed by Masaki Kobayashi, the 1962 Japanese jidaigeki film follows a rnin who requests to perform seppuku, also called harakiri, at a feudal lord's manor and uses the moment to recount the circumstances that led him to seek death in front of an audience of samurai, set between 1619 and 1630 during the Edo period under the Tokugawa shogunate. The film's cast includes Tatsuya Nakadai, Rentar Mikuni, Shima Iwashita, Tetsur Tamba, Ichir Nakatani, Kei Sat, and Yoshio Inaba.

In an Insider video, a martial arts and katana instructor, Seki Nobuhide Sensei, rated the portrayal of samurai battles in movies and TV shows, including the scene in Harakiri in which the protagonist battles multiple opponents at once. Watch the portion of the video below, starting at the 20:36 minute mark:

Seki Nobuhide Sensei praised the scene's realism, highlighting the protagonist's strategic movements to...

“I am a person rarely impressed by actors… but in the case of Mifune I was completely overwhelmed. The ordinary Japanese actor might need ten feet of film to get across an impression. Toshirō Mifune needed only three feet,” said Akira Kurosawa.

One of the greatest talents in cinema history, Toshirō Mifune left behind a staggering body of work amassing over 150 starring roles. Born on April 1, 1920, a retrospective was planned for 2020 timed to his centennial and now, after a delay due to the pandemic, it will kick off next week at NYC’s Film Forum. Featuring 35mm rarities and rediscoveries imported from the libraries of The Japan Foundation and The National Film Archive of Japan, the series will run for a whopping four weeks, from February 11 through March 10, and feature 33 films.

Ahead of the retrospective, we’re pleased to exclusively debut the trailer, edited by John Zhao, highlighting what is...

Shichinin No Samurai / Seven Samurai (1954) Direction: Akira Kurosawa Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Yoshio Inaba, Seiji Miyaguchi, Isao Kimura, Kamatari Fujiwara, Yoshio Tsuchiya Screenplay: Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni Oscar Movies Toshiro Mifune, Seven Samurai By Dan Schneider of Cosmoetica Some films get better after repeated viewings. Akira Kurosawa's 1954 black-and-white drama Shichinin no samurai / Seven Samurai is one of them. It fully deserved winning that year's Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, as well its Academy award nominations for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (black and white) and Best Costume Design (black and white). Additionally, Seven Samurai became an international sensation and it's reported to have been the highest-grossing Japanese film of its day. [Note: Spoilers ahead.] On first view, Seven Samurai is simply a great action film; but with subsequent viewings, the finer points of characterization come through, subliminally and purposefully seeping into the viewer's mind. [...]...

For years now Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai has been ranked as one of the best movies ever made, and is usually considered one of the finest achievement in cinema. In the most recent Sight and Sound poll of the best films ever made, critics ranked it eleventh (its highest charting was in 1982 at #3) while filmmakers ranked it ninth. It’s ranked thirteenth on IMDb.com’s list of the greatest films of all time. Ain’t no denying that Kurosawa and his cast (including Toshiro Mifune) made a masterwork. And my review of The Criterion collection’s Seven Samurai after the jump.

A band of marauding Ronin spot a village and are about to raid it when their leader notes that the village’s crops won’t be ready for another couple of weeks. They ride off, but a villager hears their plans. After a discussion, the villagers decide...